Stonewall Space Force

The flagship of the SSF, "Good Cause", escorted by five Imperial Star Destroyers

The Stonewall Space Force (SSF), or commonly referred to as the Stonewall Defense Fleet (SDF) is the naval branch of the Stonewall Independent Republic military. Originally formed by Grand Admiral Robert Stanforth in 4 NE, the SSF has participated in many battles, including Operation Hammer Down in The Killik War.

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Although the SSF is made up of many different kind of ships, it is still a very advanced navy for the age of the young Stonewall Independent Republic. The majority of the ships are made up of Imperial Star Destroyers, Venator I Star Destroyers, Venator II Star Destroyers, and various corvettes. However, after the Military Revitalization Act of 2010 was passed by the Stonewall Senate, various newer capital ships and starfighters have been making their way into the SSF.

The Lusankya-class Super Star Dreadnought, or Super Star Destroyer, is a mammoth of a ship measured in at nineteen kilometers in length. This ship was one of the biggest accomplishments for the Stonewall Defense Corporation outside of manufacturing ships for The Galactic Empire. Though it took nearly four years to complete, the result was an ultra powerful ship that could hold its own as a command station in a battle.

The Lusankya-class was riginally manufactured for the SSF to replace the Malevolence as the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser was a poor command ship in a heavy battle. There is only one of these mammoths in the SSF, that being the "Good Cause", which is typically commanded by Grand Admiral Stanforth and Captain Nathaniel Wall.

The Lusankya-class has over 5,000 weapons emplacements, including turbolasers, concussion missle launchers, and many ion canons. This class of ship has at least 100 times more firepower than an Imperial-class destroyer. A majority of gun batteries and missile launchers were located in the central cityscape on the dorsal side, while some point-defense guns were located throughout the side-trenches.

Its shields handle much of the power generated. Shield-projectors were placed throughout the hull, which decentralized the protection system and decreased the chance of all shields falling at once. Known shield segments included the dorsal, ventral, bow, aft, port and starboard shields. There are no plans to produce anymore Lusankya-class Super Star Dreadnoughts, due to their large expense and firepower. This was a one time run of the design, says engineers at the SDC.

An Imperial Star Destroyer, the backbone of the SSF. Pictured above is "White Dagger".

The Imperial Star Destroyer is the backbone of the Stonewall Space Fleet, and one of the oldest ships used in the fleet. Originally the idea was poached from the Galactic Empire and its allies' designs, the Stonewall Defense Corporation took the design and used a nearly identical design. The 1.6 kilometer ship is a powerful ship that can operate with few starfighters to shield it.

The Imperial Star Destroyer was built with a heavily reinforced hull, strong deflective shields, and greater firepower than the Victory-class used previously by the SSF. The surface of the ISD contained batteries of eight-barreled turbolasers in unarmored barbette mountings. A feature included two parallel "claws" for grappling smaller ships placed in the ventral secondary docking bay.

Although powerful, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer had many problems. The SSF engineers are notorious for scoffing at repairing these ships due to the amount of problems contained within them. In order to correct these problems, the SDC refitted many of the ISD's in service in mid 6 NE due to complaints and threats from the S.I.R. government to pull out of the SDC. Although old, these ships are expected to continue being used on the frontlines due to the prowess in battle.

The Venator I-class Star Destroyer, another of the oldest ships in the SSF. Pictured above is "Battle of Stonewall"

The Venator I-class Star Destroyer is one of the oldest models in the fleet under the Imperial Star Destroyer. Initially created to carry starfighters into battles and to jump out quickly, some have been upgraded and refitted to carry heavier weapons and fewer starfighters. Though some have been refitted, the Venator I is still considered to be the carrier in the Stonewall Space Force.

The armament of a single Venator I-class Star Destroyer consisted of 8 heavy dual turbolaser turrets, 2 medium dual turbolaser cannons, 52 point-defense dual laser canons or turbolasers, and 4 heavy proton torpedo or concussion missile tubes. The armor of the Venator I was weaker than that of the Imperial Star Destroyer and their shields were much weaker than those of the Imperial Star Destroyers as well. The justification for this by SDC engineers was so that it could get in quickly and get out quickly.

A fault with the Venator I was the vulnerability of the bridge on the ship. Many captains and admirals fear for their safety onboard the 1.2 kilometer ships because the bridge structure can easily be sheared off by a heavy, close heavy canon burst. There have been reports in battles of the bridges on the Venator I ships of the bridge depressurizing after the weak shields have evaporated from the screen. This has resulted in many captain deaths, with the expected life expectancy as a bridge member being seven battles. Many of the design flaws were addressed in the Venator II-class Star Destroyer released in 4 NE.

The newer Venator II-class ships that have strengthened the SSF. Pictured above is the "Stonewall III", commanded by First Admiral David Smith.

Due to the design flaws in the Venator I-class Star Destroyers, the SDC developed a successor to the flawed ship, the Venator II-class Star Destroyer. This new design of the Venator series bridged the gap between the Venator I and the Imperial Star Destroyer. The Venator II featured beefed up armor and shields, and a more discrete bridge that was not so much of a target. The Venator II also featured five additional heavy dual turbolaser turrets.

The Gladiator-class Star Destroyer was created by the SDC in late 3 NE to be a hybrid of a corvette and a destroyer. It is approximately five hundred meters long, and featured characteristics of both classes and is considered to be an excellent frontier or escort capital ship. This destroyer featured six dual light turbolaser batteries, two point defense laser canon batteries, 300 medium concussion missiles, and three tractor beams.

The Gladiator can hold up to twenty-four starfighters, making it more of a hit and fade attack ship rather than a full battle ship. It has been rumored that the SDC will be releasing a Gladiator II-class within the next three years.